Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a liquid discharge head.
Description of the Related Art
There is a problem with liquid discharge heads that discharge liquid such as ink or the like from discharge orifices, in that volatile components in the liquid discharged from the discharge orifices evaporate, and the liquid thickens near the discharge orifices, resulting in change in discharge speed of discharged droplets, and droplet landing accuracy being affected.
There is a known method of circulating ink supplied to the liquid discharge head along a circulation path, as a measure to counter this liquid thickening phenomenon. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-355973 describes a liquid discharge head that suppresses clogging of discharge orifices due to evaporation of liquid from the discharge orifices, by circulating liquid within a channel formed between a member where the discharge orifices are formed and a substrate where heating resistance elements are formed.
When intermission periods after discharge operations are long, increased viscosity of liquid nearby the discharge orifices is pronounced, and solid components within the liquid may solidify nearby the discharge orifices. Accordingly, the solid components may increase fluid resistance when the liquid passes through the discharge orifices at the time of the first liquid discharge after the intermission, which may result in a defective discharge.
However, no consideration regarding such defective discharge is given to the liquid discharge head described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-355973. Accordingly, the defective discharge occurring at the time of the first liquid discharge after the intermission may cause deterioration of image quality.
It has been found desirable to provide a liquid discharge apparatus and a liquid discharge head capable of high-definition and high-quality image formation.